Posts Tagged ‘Nashville’

The Red Wings were on the road tonight playing the Predators in Nashville. The goalies were Jimmy Howard and Pekka Rinne. The Red Wings were short staffed tonight since Hudler still had the flu, and Datsyuk and Franzen were both out with day-to-day lower body injuries so they went with one forward short. Salei was still out for family leave but Kindl was filling in for him.

This was a violent game. The Predators were doing a lot of hard hitting and they seemed to be trying to hurt people. There were at least two elbows to the head in the first period alone and neither one was penalized. Lidstrom was hit well after the play at one point and it took him a while to recover. Helm was driven over the boards into the Predator’s bench area. It was really pretty crazy and almost nothing was being called. What they did call, though, was incidental contact on Holmstrom which negated a goal. He was standing at the top of the crease and Rinne bumped into him. I guess Holmstrom is breaking the rules just by existing anywhere on the ice that the goalie might want to be. The Wings scored first anyway, though, when they had a power play near the end of the period. Bertuzzi passed it down low to Zetterberg who centered it to Cleary in front of the net. Cleary chipped it up and over Rinne to make it one to nothing Detroit.

Early in the second period the Red Wings were shorthanded and Eaves went down and blocked a bullet of shot by Shea Weber. He took it in the leg and was unable to stand up. The puck was cleared deep but the Predators were starting back up ice so the referees didn’t blow the whistle. Eaves was crawling to the bench so that somebody could come out to replace him. Kronwall saw what was happening and decided to help him along. He used his stick to shovel eaves over to the boards in front of the bench where the linesman helped him the rest of the way. It was a pretty funny looking scene, although Eaves was clearly in a lot of pain. I can’t say I’ve ever seen that happen before. It was a real display of guts by Eaves to struggle to the bench and some quick thinking by Kronwall to scoot him along. Luckily, Eaves wasn’t seriously hurt and was right back on the ice a few minutes later. It must have just been a stinger that paralyzed his leg for a little while.

Later on in the second period the Predators tied the game with a tip-in goal by Geoffrion.

In the third period Nashville took the lead with a power play goal. Ericsson blocked a shot and it bounced right to Blum who was in perfect position to tap it in.

The Red Wings tried to tie the game but the Predators played great defense. Howard went to the bench for an extra skater toward the end but Legwand put one into the empty net and that was it for the Wings.

This was a good game and was well played by both teams. The goalie interference calls are starting to get annoying though. Also, the non-calls in this game, while sort of refreshing, were pretty unusual considering what’s called on most nights.

The Red Wings have two tough home games coming up next. Pittsburgh comes to town on Monday and Vancouver will be there on Wednesday.

The Red Wings were on the road tonight to play the Predators in Nashville. Joey MacDonald got the start for the Wings and the Predators went with Pekka Rinne. Datsyuk and Holmstrom were still not ready to go so they were out of the lineup. They’re expected to return sometime next week.

This game almost seemed to be a rerun of last night’s game. The difference was that the Red Wings seemed to be competing harder but the result was the same. As Mickey Redmond said, they’re officially in a funk. The whole team seemed to be snake bit. Nothing seemed to go right offensively even though they had some great chances. Joey MacDonald did a great job in net for the Wings but it doesn’t matter much when the team can’t score.

This was a bad night to be in a funk because the ice was crappy and the goaltender was on fire so the Wings couldn’t really catch a break. Detroit even had a full two minutes of 5 on 3 power play time and still couldn’t score.

To make matters worse, Jan Mursak left the game with a lower body injury and didn’t return. The Wings are really missing Datsyuk and Holmstrom right now. Hopefully, getting some guys back next week will energize the offense.

The one highlight of the night for me was a classic Mickey-ism that just about had me on the floor. It was in the third period and Abdelkader was about to fight with Colin Wilson. They had their gloves off and removed their helmets and then the linesmen got in the way and prevented the fight. Mickey Redmond was none too happy about that and rightfully so. Each player was sent to the box for delay of game but Mickey thought it was going to be for roughing and he said, “There’s more roughing in the crib of a six months year old.” Add that one to the list!

This was a rough weekend for the Wings. Over two games they’ve had zero goals on 69 shots. Getting some guys back should help but either way they have to just keep at it. They’re doing good things but they just aren’t working right now. If they hang in there they’ll start scoring and then the confidence will return.

The Nashville Predators were in town this evening to play the Wings in an important divisional game. The Predators got off to great start this year. They came into this contest with a point in all but one of their games this year. The goalies for tonight’s game were Osgood and Rinne. Abdelkader returned to Wings’ lineup tonight and Jiri Hudler sat as a healthy scratch. Babcock has not been happy with the Hudler, Cleary and Modano line and used this opportunity to shake it up a little.

The Red Wings got off to good start. They played well in the first period. Osgood was sharp from the beginning. Datsyuk and Stuart both scored in the first, so it was two to nothing at the first intermission.

The Wings eased off a bit in the second period and started turning the puck over too much. Luckily Osgood continued playing well and didn’t let things get out of hand. The Predators did score a goal in the second, though. Datsyuk also scored a beauty of a goal after being tied up along the boards. He broke for the net and put it through the five hole. He’s really been building up the highlight reel footage so far this year!

The Wings got back on track in the third period. They scored two more goals. Nashville managed to bag another goal as well but it was too little too late for them. They didn’t even bother pulling the goalie at the end.

The Red Wings’ penalty kill was great in this game. They killed off all five of the opportunities for the Nashville power play. Although to be fair the Nashville power play has been awful this year.

This was a great recovery for the Wings after getting beat by Phoenix in the previous game. It was also a nice way to set up the three game Western Canada road trip that starts in Calgary on Wednesday.

The Nashville Predators squared off today against the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. The goalies were Jimmy Howard and Pekka Rinne.

The Red Wings started this game on fire. Right from the start the whole team looked like they were shot out of a cannon.

Late in the first period the Wings had a power play. Datsyuk had the puck in the offensive zone. He lost an edge and went down. While down on the ice he made a perfect pass to Holmstrom. He passed it to Franzen in the slot. Franzen sent it to Rafalski. He double clutched put it in the corner of the net. It was a fantastic scoring play that was all started by Datsyuk making an awesome play from flat on his ass. He didn’t get an assist but we know it all set up by Pavel.

Early in the second period the Wings killed off a Nashville power play but afterwards they got pinned in their own zone. They were tired and Filppula and Lilja were limping from blocking shots. Weber fired from the point and the puck hit Holmstrom’s stick along the way. Howard couldn’t see a thing because there was too much traffic and the puck went in the net to tie the game at one.

Later in the second Erat circled around the net with the puck while Stuart stuck to him like glue. He took the puck to slot and then turned around and shot it. The puck hit Zetterberg’s skate and bounced into the net. There was nothing Howard could have done about that one. That made it two to one Predators.

With about four minutes left in the second period the Wings dumped the puck into the zone and Datsyuk took it away. He passed it to Holmstrom who sent it back to Lidstrom. Lidstrom fired a bomb that beat Rinne and re-tied the game at two each.

With less than a minute left in the second period the Predators were pressuring in the Red Wings end. Draper had a broken stick and couldn’t do much to help. Boyd passed from down low to Dumont who fired the puck and beat Howard for the go ahead goal making it three to two Predators.

After two periods this game was really even. The shots and scoring chances were almost exactly the same. However, it seemed like Detroit was playing better and Nashville was getting some lucky bounces.

The Wings continued playing well and had a lot of great chances in the third. Nashville had a chance that went between Howard’s legs and then hit the post and came back out front right to him. But the score held through almost all of the third.

Then with only 36 seconds left Datsyuk scored to tie the game. The Wings had dumped it in and Franzen went after it. He got it to Holmstrom who passed it to Datsyuk. He just ripped it and beat Rinne under the crossbar to make it three all.

The Wings kept up the pressure for the final few seconds but weren’t able to score. So they went to overtime again. Are these teams well matched, or what?!

Just a few seconds into the overtime Suter got a pass and stepped up to about the faceoff dot. He was all alone. He ripped a shot and beat Howard cleanly on the stick side for the quick overtime win.

The Wings got a point but this one was kind of a bummer because it seemed like they played well enough to win and Nashville just got the lucky bounces. That’s why playoff rounds are seven games. These teams are very evenly matched and eventually the lucky bounces even out.

Nashville is back up by two points on the Wings now. Calgary can still technically catch Detroit so they still haven’t clinched a playoff spot. Maybe tomorrow!

Tonight was arguably the most important game of the season to date for the Red Wings. They were in Nashville to play the Predators, trailing them by two points in the standings. A win would tie them in points but the Wings would be ahead because they would have played one fewer game than the Predators. If the Wings could win in regulation and Colorado and Los Angeles both lose, then Detroit would be all alone in 5th place. A loss would put the Wings four points behind the Predators and drop them all the way down to 9th place. That’s quite a lot riding on this game.

The goalies tonight were Jimmy Howard and Pekka Rinne. Cleary was out tonight because the groin injury that he re-injured in Friday night’s game. Meech was in the lineup to take his place.

Before the game Mike Babcock had said that there were two games tonight. A 10 minute game and a 50 minute game and you have to start on time. Well in the first 8 minutes of the game the Red Wings didn’t have a shot on goal. That stat was a bit misleading however because they did have some good chances and they were playing pretty well but their shots were missing the net and getting blocked.

The first period ended with no score. The Red Wings were being slightly outshot but they had to kill off a few penalties and didn’t have any power play time. The period ended with the Predators on the power play so the Wings had to kill off over a minute of penalty time to start the second period.

In the second period the Wings finally had a few power plays of their own and took over offensively. They outshot the Predators but still weren’t able to score. Neither were the Predators however so the goose eggs carried over into the third period.

Throughout the third period the chess match continued and neither team scored. Jimmy Howard was superb. He made several highlight reel stops and his rebound control was perfect. Unfortunately, at the other end Rinne was playing just as well.

Regulation time ended with no score so each team got one point. Detroit outshot Nashville 37 to 32 in regulation.

Nobody scored in the overtime either although the Red Wings had more chances than the Predators. Both teams were playing pretty defensively throughout the entire game.

It was time for the shootout to determine a winner. Datsyuk was up first. He did some stick work and fired but Rinne stopped his shot with the blocker. O’Reilly did pretty much the same thing as Datsyuk and Howard stopped him as well. Williams was next. He made a heck of a move but Rinne made great save to stop his shot. Erat came up, faked and Howard stopped him nicely. Then it was Zetterberg’s turn. He faked but ran out of room before he had the angle he wanted and Rinne never gave up the post. Legwand tried to go five hole and Howard stopped him. Franzen came up next and missed high. Goc was next and Howard stopped him, too. Bertuzzi was up next. He took his time skating around, got in really close and put it over Rinne’s glove for the score. Sullivan came up for Nashville, faked left and Howard went down. He went back to the right and squeaked it in to tie it up. Filppula came up and was stopped by Rinne. Franson went next and Howard caught it in his glove. Miller got it past Rinne but it bounced off the goal post. Hornqvist fired over the net. Holmstrom made some moves but was stopped by Rinne with the pad. Dumont came up and Howard made a great stop. Eaves faked and stumbled before he could get a shot off. Boyd had the puck poke checked away by Howard. Draper fired and missed. Wilson was stopped by Howard. Kronwall came in fast and beat Rinne through the five hole for the score. Bouillon went next and Howard stopped him for the win. Whew!

What a battle! Jimmy Howard got the well deserved win after a shutout through regulation and overtime. He only allowed one puck in the net on 11 shots in the shootout. This wasn’t the most exciting game in the world but it was really impressive to see the goaltenders duel like that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a long shoot and I can’t say enough about how great Jimmy Howard was. Truly top notch!

So the Red Wings are still one point behind Nashville in the standings but their position will be determined by the outcome of the Colorado and Los Angeles games later tonight.

It was put up or shut up time for the Red Wings tonight. They were facing the Nashville Predators at Joe Louis Arena. The Predators were in 7th place coming into the game and the Wings were sitting in 8th. The Red Wings were in need of a dramatic improvement in their win percentage if they’re going to make the playoffs. It’s not being negative to say that if they continue at this rate they will not make the playoffs. We’ve known for a month or two that they need to start winning more in order to get in but so far they haven’t done it. They’re not out of the running yet by any means but there’s a point at which their fate will be out of their own hands no matter how much they win and that point is fast approaching.

This was the old four point swing game. A win for the Red Wings would mean they’d only be three points behind Nashville, and a Predators win meant they’d be up by seven. So it was a four point swing based on this game assuming it ended in regulation.

Tonight Ericsson was a healthy scratch and Lebda was in, paired with Lilja. Jimmy Howard was in net for the Wings and Dan Ellis was in for Nashville.

I thought the Red Wings started the game looking a little bit sloppy. Their passes weren’t connecting and they were turning the puck over. Then they had a nice play where they almost scored after the puck got through Ellis but it was cleared away by Goc before it made it to the goal line.

Before the halfway point of the first period Datsyuk made an am amazing individual play to put the Wings up by one. He was fore checking Klein and just completely picked his pocket right next to the net. Then he turned with the puck and made about four moves in about one second and shot it up and over Ellis into the net. It was an unbelievable goal, just beautiful!

Later in the first, after Nashville had hit a post and looked like they were starting to surge, Detroit got a power play. Datsyuk passed through the slot to Lidstrom who shot it but it was deflected off the stick of a Predators player. The puck ended up right on Holmstrom’s stick in front of the net with Ellis all the way over to the side of the net. Holmstrom popped it in and put the Wings up two to nothing.

After the initial sloppiness in the first period the Red Wings looked really good. They had a lot of energy and they worked hard. They more than doubled the Predators’ shots on goal in the first period so you can’t ask for much more than that.

The Red Wings had an early power play in the second period. They didn’t score but they pretty much had their way with the Predators passing-wise. They moved the puck at will and came really close to scoring. Ellis saved his team’s bacon a few times on the power play.

A few minutes after the power play ended Helm received a pass in the slot. He turned around with it and shot one that hit Ellis in the shoulder and then continued on into the net. It was a great shot by Helm. He had been having a very good night and it was nice to see it pay off. That made it three to nothing Red Wings.

Later in the second period the Predators were on a power play. Kronwall jumped on a loose puck in the Red Wings and sprung Helm on a breakaway. Ryan Suter was back to go one on one with Helm. Helm got a shot away and Ellis stopped it but the rebound came right back out. Suter whacked at it but he didn’t control it and skated right by. Helm didn’t give up and gathered it in again for another shot. By that time Ellis was out of position and deep in his net and Helm beat him easily for the shorthanded goal making it four to nothing Red Wings.

Just a few seconds later Bertuzzi had a great chance after jumping on a loose puck but Ellis stopped him. Then going back the other way Dumont made a nice move to step around Rafalski. Then he passed it to Sullivan in the slot who passed it right back to him. Dumont shot the puck and beat Howard for the Predators’ first goal. There was no chance for Howard on that one. It was a beautiful passing play between Sullivan and Dumont.

Early in the third period Sullivan had a breakaway chance after a Red Wings turnover. Howard came out to challenge him and backed in staying with him as he closed in on the net. He waited him out and when Sullivan shot, Howard snatched it out of the air. It was a top notch save and an important one. If the Predators had scored there they would have had new life in this game.

A few minutes later they did score though. There was a quick pass across the ice to Joel Ward. His one-time shot was so hard and fast that Howard didn’t have time to get all the way over. He just flat out beat him with a great scoring play. That made it four to two Red Wings.

The Predators had a power play a bit later when Franzen was careless with his stick and accidentally smacked Bouillon in the face with it. It was lucky that that there was no blood and he only got two minutes. He really nailed him right in the chops. The Wings killed that off nicely. Then Rafalski was called for high sticking a few minutes later. The Red Wings killed that one off, too.

The Red Wings locked it down from then on and the Predators didn’t really get any more chances for the rest of the game. They pulled the goalie in last few minutes and Zetterberg bagged an empty net goal with about three seconds left. So the Red Wings won it five to two.

This game was just what the Wings needed. They pulled together and everybody played really well. They got contributions from all over the place. Helm played great as did Datsyuk. Zetterberg and Bertuzzi didn’t score (except for the empty netter) but they generated a lot of chances and looked good. Howard was strong in net; the goals allowed were essentially unstoppable. There were a few mistakes but all in all I’d say it was a great game.

The Nashville Predators were in Detroit tonight to face the Red Wings. The goalies for this game were Jimmy Howard and Dan Ellis. Abdelkader was out of the lineup after being sent back to Grand Rapids thanks to the return of Jason Williams. Abdelkader played really well for the most part but still it was great to have Jason Williams back. Holmstrom is expected back on Sunday which it also wonderful news. Lebda was in the lineup tonight as Meech and Leino were both healthy scratches. Brad Stuart was apparently injured the other night in the game against Minnesota but he was okay to go tonight so it must not have been anything serious.

The first period was characterized by giveaways and sloppy defense on the part of the Red Wings and fantastic saves by Jimmy Howard.

As frustrating as the game had been through most of the first, the Red Wings had a chance to turn it around when they went on the power play late in the period. They had a few good chances including one where Miller shot at a mostly open net, but Filppula was in the way and it hit him instead. Later on the same shift Filppula shot and Miller tipped it. It continued through to Williams who was parked in front of the net and he tipped it in back door on Ellis. That made it one to nothing Red Wings which was really lucky considering they were being outplayed by the Predators.

About a minute later Zetterberg lost his stick in the defensive end and the Predators took full advantage. Dumont passed across the ice to Bouillon who one timed it into the net before Howard could get over. That tied it up at one each.

Surprisingly, the stats for shots and chances were fairly even. It certainly seemed quite a bit worse than the stats indicated. Mickey Redmond seemed skeptical of their accuracy.

In the second period the Red Wings took control a little bit and got the momentum swinging their way. They were on the power play and moving the puck really well. Lidstrom made a great to play to keep the puck in the zone and then circled back around to the slot. Zetterberg chipped it ahead to Datsyuk who made a perfect pass to Lidstrom. He one-timed it and scored to take the lead two to one on the power play goal.

A few minutes later the Wings were on the power play again. Just a few seconds after it had expired Stuart sent the puck from the point to the front of the net. Miller was there and redirected it but it ended up under Ellis. He moved a little bit and puck slid out from under his pads. Miller was still there and smacked it into the net to give the Red Wings a two goal lead three to one.

By the end of the second period the shots and chances stats were much more skewed in Nashville’s favor. Even though Detroit outscored the Predators two to nothing in the second period they were still being outplayed at least on paper. The most glaring stat was the 12 giveaways that Detroit had through two periods.

In the third period Weber had the puck along the boards and he just chucked it towards the net. It looked like it hit Stuart’s stick and deflected into the top corner of the net to pull the Predators to within a goal of tying it.

Later in the third Zetterberg shot from an angle that was so bad that he was actually below the goal line. The puck went under Ellis’ arm and into the net. Ellis pushed the net back when he moved into position so it was reviewed to see if the net was out of position when the puck crossed the line. The call on the ice was determined to be correct so it was a good goal.

With a 1:35 left in the game Nashville had pulled their goalie and then Rafalski was called for interference so it became a six on four advantage. Nashville had a lot of chances but the Wings kept them off the board for the rest of the game.

This was a big and lucky win for the Red Wings. Jimmy Howard faced 48 shots thanks to all the giveaways. He stopped 46 of them which was just incredible. It was a heck of a performance by him. I hate to think where the Wings would be this year if they’d had mediocre goaltending. With all the injuries, excellent goaltending has been a necessity and Jimmy Howard has been giving it to them on a routine basis.

The Red Wings were on the road tonight playing the Predators in Nashville. Pekka Rinne was the goalie for the Predators and Osgood was in for the Wings.

The first period was pretty uneventful. Detroit drastically outshot the Predators and out chanced them. Both teams traded power plays, with two each. Even with all the chances though, neither team was able to score so the first period ended zero to zero.

Early in the second period Drew Miller passed up ice to Bertuzzi who entered the zone with speed. He brought the puck in, did a spin-o-rama and backhanded a shot that beat Rinne to give the Red Wings the lead one to nothing. It’s encouraging to Bertuzzi score a goal. If he gets hot that could really turn things around for the Red Wings. It’s definitely a morale boost to see him score like that.

Later in the period Helm took a stick in the face. It was a similar situation to the one where Brad May was hit in the face a few games back. It was a follow through on a shot so there was no penalty. That probably didn’t make it feel any better though. Helm is a tough kid and he wasn’t off the ice for long.

A bit past the halfway point of the second period Datsyuk brought the puck in to the zone and shot it. Rinne got a piece of it and it popped up, hit the crossbar and started to drop down. Drew Miller was right on the doorstep and he swatted it out of the air and into the net giving the Red Wings a two to nothing lead.

Later in the period the Predators were on the power play. Sullivan ripped one from the top of the circle. Either Jones or possibly Rafalski tipped it in front and it changed direction. There was no chance for Osgood to react that quickly.

By the end of the second period the Predators had turned things around. They were outshooting and out chancing the Red Wings.

The Predators tied the game early in the third. Legwand scored the goal. He got the puck up and over Osgood’s shoulder. Osgood had been scrambling just prior to the shot and wasn’t really set.

The score was still tied at the end of regulation so they headed to an overtime period.

Early in the OT Datsyuk stole the puck just as the Predators were entering the Red Wings zone. Bertuzzi was already heading up ice and Datsyuk hit him with a perfect pass. Bertuzzi took it to the net. He made a move that got Rinne down and then put it around him into the wide open net for the win. That was the second time in as many nights that Bertuzzi got the game winning goal in overtime.

Bertuzzi had another great game tonight. Hopefully, he’ll stay hot because it sure does help!

Tonight the Red Wings travelled to Nashville to face the Predators. Pekka Rinne was the goaltender for the Predators and Osgood was in net for the Wings. The Wings were in an extra tough spot having lost so many players to injury especially now with a lot of games packed into a short time. Meech was in as a defenseman because of the injury to Kronwall.

In the first period Bertuzzi was called for interference and Nashville went on the power play. Arnott ended up with the puck in front of the Red Wings net. All of the penalty killers were right there but nobody stopped him. He had one whack at it that bounced back to him so he took another whack at it and scored. I’m not sure what they were thinking there on the PK; they looked like they were just standing around. I’m guessing everybody thought somebody else was going to stop Arnott. In any case it was one to nothing Predators.

At the end of the first period Holmstrom was called for hooking. It wasn’t much of a hook, but there you go.

The first period ended with no additional scoring.

The Predators started the second period on the power play. The Red Wings killed off most of it, but with one second left Erat scored with a hard one-timer from the top of the circle that beat Osgood to put the Predators up two to nothing.

Later in the second period the Red Wings were being outworked and outplayed by the Predators. Finally Drew Miller had had enough. He got the puck in the corner, muscled his way along the goal line to the front of the net, and jammed the puck in to put the Wings on the board. It was an awesome play by Miller who’s been fairly quiet since joining the Wings a few weeks ago. I’d love to see him keep making plays like that! That play really seemed to spark the Red Wings and they played a lot better from then on.

In the third period the Wings continued to play with a lot of jump. They had many good scoring chances but Rinne stopped them all.

Late in the third period Osgood made an incredible save with his stick. On the next faceoff though, Erat struck again. Once again it was a shot from the top of the circle. This time it beat Osgood low. That made it three to one Predators with only a few minutes left.

The Red Wings pulled Osgood for an extra skater and generated a few more good scoring chances but weren’t able to get a goal. Zetterberg hit a post with a bad angle shot at a mostly wide open net but that’s as close as they came.

This was a really exciting game that was hotly contested by both teams. Although the Wings lost I think they learned a lot about who is stepping up to fill the skates of injured players. Drew Miller had a great game as did Stuart, Ericsson and Helm.

The bottom line is the Wings were outplayed in this game thanks in large part to a great performance by Pekka Rinne and a team effort for a full sixty minutes by the Predators. The Wings didn’t look bad especially in the third period but it just wasn’t enough.

Tonight the Red Wings faced the Nashville Predators at Joe Louis Arena. The Predators are another team fighting for a spot in the playoffs. They pretty much need a win tonight or they can forget about it. The Wings were hoping to foil their plans. The starting goaltenders were Chris Osgood for the Wings and Pekka Rinne for the Predators.

In the first period Detroit got a power play thanks to a delay of game by the Predators. Kronwall got the puck at the top of the slot and fired it on net. It changed direction after hitting the stick of a Nashville player and got by Rinne to give Detroit the one nothing lead.

That was the only goal in the first period but the Red Wings were out-shot 10 to 4 which is not good. The Predators also won 10 face-offs to the Wings 4. That’s very unusual.

In the second period Nichol scored for the Predators at even strength. Osgood was screened and nearly interfered with so he never had a chance to stop that one. That tied the game at one.

Hossa left the game in the second period. Of course, they said it was because of a “lower body” injury. Let’s hope that it’s nothing. They showed a replay where his foot got sort of caught on the skate of a Nashville player and it looked like his leg might have stretched out awkwardly. Hopefully, it’s not a gr0in injury.

Near the end of the second period Detroit scored a power play goal. The Wings were moving the puck well and Lidstrom shot it from the point. Holmstrom was in front of the net and then Datsyuk moved in with his stick to try for a redirection. It looked like Rinne got a piece of it but it got by him and into the net. Datsyuk didn’t touch the puck but he distracted Rinne with his stick. The power play was created because of a terrible penalty that Nichol took. It was a crosscheck that happened after the play. It was completely pointless and the Red Wings made him pay for it.

Early on in the third period Zetterberg won the faceoff but they lost it to Nashville. Cleary forechecked and knocked Arnott off the puck. Zetterberg took it and sent it to Franzen in the slot. He snapped a quick one that made it three to one Wings.

With 6:42 left in the game Arnott ended up with the puck in the slot. He shot once and it hit the post. It bounced right back to him and he shot it again and beat Osgood to pull within a goal of tying the game.

As time was winding down Nashville pulled their goalie plus Kronwall was in the box so it was six on four. With just under a minute left they scored to tie the game at three and send the game into overtime. Unfortunately, even the single point will be helpful to Nashville’s playoff hopes.

With about 45 seconds left in the overtime Zetterberg was called for a hook so the Predators went onto a four on three power play. The Wings killed off the penalty so the game went to a shootout.

Datsyuk shot first in the shootout but he was stopped by Rinne. Fiddler shot next for the Predators and missed the net. Then Zetterberg came up and Rinne stopped him as well. Sullivan shot and Osgood stopped it. Hudler was up next. He did a kick fake and beat Rinne for the first goal of the shootout. Koistinen went next and scored on Osgood. Then Cleary was up and he was stopped by Rinne. Finally it was Arnott who shot the puck into the net to win the game and earn two points for the Predators.

I thought the Red Wings played a pretty good game tonight but the Predators were just too desperate. If it weren’t for the six on four at the end of regulation they wouldn’t have even gotten a point and I’d have been a lot happier.